MADINAH: Dar Al-Madinah Museum offers visitors the opportunity to view historical pieces associated with the Prophet’s life. It features artifacts that capture the history, heritage, social life and culture of Madinah.
The museum’s executive director, Hassan Taher, said that it aims to promote the noble values of the Prophet Muhammad, encourage a sense of belonging and capture the history, culture and heritage of Madinah. The exhibits start with the Prophet’s life and end with the Saudi era.
Taher said: “The museum carries out specialized research in Madinah’s architectural heritage. It contains a library of relevant books, research and magazines, all of which are accessible to researchers.” He said that the museum has issued more than 44 books and publications on Madinah’s architecture.
He added: “There are around 2,000 artifacts in the museum’s exhibition halls. These include antiquities, extremely accurate models, handicrafts, manuscripts, documents, correspondence, old publications, postage stamps, photographs and artworks.”
One of the museum’s most valuable exhibits is a large collection of rare pieces associated with important moments in the Prophet’s life and the history of Madinah.
(Arab News)

RIYADH: A project to add more than 3,000 meters square of courtyard space near to the Grand Mosque in Makkah is almost complete, Saudi Press Agency reported.
The extension to the area will help control the movement of crowds near the mosque, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques said. The work is 85 percent complete, the statement said.
The expansion work involves the removal of a number of places designated for ablution and installing them under the stairs of the courtyard. Toilets have also been installed around the edges of the courtyard.
The project, which is due to be completed at the end of this month, aims to increase the capacity of the Grand Mosque and its surrounding courtyards to provide the best service to Hajj and Umrah pilgrims, deal with crowd control, and ensure the safety of visitors. (Arab News)

MANILA: Filipino Muslims will have access to a wider range of Islamic banking services under a new law signed by President Rodrigo Duterte. The expansion of the Islamic banking system in the country will be carried out under the supervision of the Philippines Central Bank and its Monetary Board.
Under the new law, conventional banks also will be allowed to engage in Islamic banking arrangements, providing they segregate the transactions from conventional business. The legislation is also expected to pave the way for the entry of foreign Islamic banks

Authorities in the Russian region of Chechnya inaugurated what they said was the largest mosque in Europe in a pomp-filled ceremony attended by local and foreign officials.Named after the Prophet Mohammed, the marble-decorated mosque has capacity for more than 30,000 people and has been described by the Chechen authorities as the “largest and most beautiful” mosque in Europe.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said the mosque — located in Shali, a town of 54,000 just outside the regional capital Grozny — was “unique in its design, and majestic in its size and beauty”.
The mosque’s grounds, planted with flowers and sprinkled with fountains, can host an additional 70,000 worshippers, local authorities said. The area of the mosque is 9700 sq. meter.
Kadyrov, who was appointed by Putin to rule the Muslim-majority region in 2007, has spearheaded a revival of Islam in Chechnya, including by building opulent mosques.
In 2008 he unveiled the “Heart of Chechnya”, a mosque with a capacity of 10,000 worshippers in Grozny, a city that had been ravaged by two wars between Moscow and separatists after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union.
The first Friday sermon was delivered by MWL Sec. Gen. Md. bin Abdul Karim Al Issa.

BENGALURU: If you thought the human body has been completely mapped using technology and there is nothing more to explore, think again. Researchers continue to unravel intricate mysteries of the human anatomy and the latest to board the discovery bandwagon is oral maxillofacial and cleft surgeon Dr Nyer Firdoose from Bengaluru, who has found a new anatomical opening in the lower jaw. The opening, referred to as ‘foramen’ in anatomical terminology, is a passageway through which blood vessels and nerves run to different organs and sensory structures of the body. Dr Nyer’s discovery of coronoid which has been published in science journal Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy — is said to be a game-changer as it will help dental surgeons and anaesthetists in ensuring their treatment protocols are precise and in avoiding failures in treatment techniques. The coronoid foramen in the jaw was first found in a 43-year-old male and it’s said to be the first such finding in a live patient. Subsequently, the presence of this foramen has been validated after it was found in 12 other patients across the world. Dr Nyer, who is currently practising in Saudi Arabia, said: “In several cases, patients have complained to their dentists about pain during routine surgical procedures despite administration of anaesthesia in adequate doses. One of the reasons for anaesthesia being ineffective is the presence of additional nerves in the foramen, which is overlooked during the surgical procedure. My discovery revolves around the presence of such additional nerves within the foramen, which often seems to go unnoticed as we are not taught to look at anything beyond the teeth. This discovery will help surgeons and anaesthetists to be more cautious and customise treatment accordingly.”
(Times of India)